Graduates are looking for ethical companies, says HR expert

A HR expert has claimed that graduates are increasing looking for jobs with ethical companies.

Keith Astill, HR director at Nationwide, said that university leavers are increasingly “looking beyond the pay check” and are aiming to be a part of a company which has good ethical standards.

Mr Astill is definitely qualified to comment on the issue, considering Nationwide recently won the title as best graduate employer in the banking and finance sector in a poll which was carried out by graduate review site The Job Crowd. This is the second year in a row that the company has been given the honour.

Talking about the award, Julie Collier, Nationwide, head of resourcing and HR case management told hrmagazine.co.uk: “The importance of culture ranks highly in the survey results this year, with many of our graduates citing this as one of the reasons they enjoy working here.”

She continued: “Our ethos is built on being diverse, supportive and inclusive.”

The suggestion from Mr Astill may encourage firms to make sure their ethical policy is evident to such candidates when recruiting. As well as measures to boost their recruitment prospect, those employers who want to retain their best workers for jobs in London and the rest of the UK might want to think about offering staff a Christmas bonus.

According to research by incentives company Edenred, 70 per cent of female staff and 60 per cent of male staff think that a Christmas bonus is the best way for an employer to say thank you to those on their payroll. The ‘Saying thank you at Christmas 2013 survey’ questioned 1,000 employees, according to employeebenefits.co.uk.